


ticking like a timebomb

by huni



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Falling In Love, Light Angst, M/M, Multiple Soulmates, Mutual Pining, Soulmates, The Selection AU, True Love, nct members - mentioned
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-04-24
Updated: 2019-05-21
Packaged: 2020-01-25 19:32:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 13,787
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18581137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/huni/pseuds/huni
Summary: Donghyuck thinks his mind is broken, perhaps he came with this terrible flaw since the beginning? He doesn't quite know, all he knows is that he's seeing four soulmates instead of just one.





	1. pilot

Donghyuck looks at himself in the mirror, checking his clothing one last time before opening the big doors in front of him. He doesn’t need to be looking this good, when in fact the others are the ones supposed to impress him, but he likes to see the small changes of posture when people see him with his perfect tidy and silky Hair and perfect clothes.

 

“Are you ready?” Jeno finally asks and Donghyuck takes a deep breath, nodding silently with a grin around his lips.

 

Today is his big day, the only the one he’s supposed to decide his future, but, in addition, his country’s too. Since he was born, people are waiting for this moment - the day of his twenty-fourth birthday. In his father’s twenty-fourth birthday, he met Donghyuck’s mother, the princess of a distant and small island near the east sea; because of the failure after almost no one actually approved of the new princess, for being a complete stranger in that time, everyone was looking forward for Donghyuck to finally find his soulmate.

 

Everyone but Donghyuck, because he already knows who his soulmate is. It’s kind of common, for you to meet your soulmate before the big day; since you’re born, you’re introduced to new people, royal family from across the whole world and, especially, the princes and princesses from your country’s allies.

 

In one of these meetings, Donghyuck met Mark, the second prince in line of the throne from the biggest ally from Donghyuck’s country. They were still too young, almost eight or nine years old, and none of them Had any idea of what meant to Have a soulmate, or even what marriages meant to people like them. But the symbol was still there, the shining crown showing up in Mark’s head.

 

Donghyuck never mentioned it to Mark, or anyone else, that he knows since forever, that Mark is his soulmate because he wanted to wait for the big day to announce it, as he thought Mark was actually doing the same, taking into account that the prince never mentioned anything to him.

 

He dreamed a lot about his big birthday, as any other royal would, but Donghyuck knew exactly with whom to dream about. In Donghyuck’s mind, Mark would be as surprised as him, because they’re good actors, and they would share a kiss in front of the world’s princes and princesses, but knowing Mark as Donghyuck knows him, he would prefer just to kiss his hand and cheeks and whisper something into his ears.

 

_‘I can’t wait to call you mine.’_

 

Donghyuck shivers when he hears the cracks of the door slowly creaking in his ears, as the doors open in front of him and he already can see some faces in the other room looking directly at his direction. Donghyuck smiles softly at the small crowd in the room, there’s at least twenty princes and princesses waiting for him to announce who his soulmate is, anxious eyes searching for his glance and hoping for him to hock their eyes for more than two seconds.

 

Mark is there, seating in the second row of chairs with crossed legs and a funny grin around his lips. He looks handsome as ever, always with his dark golden hair pulled back and the black outfit. Donghyuck is sure Mark knows he looks extremely good in black, because he obviously does. Right beside him is Huang Renjun, a southern prince Donghyuck never met before, but he had to study all of the royal kids for this day so he knew exactly who each of them were just by looking at their faces. And when he sees Renjun’s face with his shy and small smile, despair starts to grow in the pit of his stomach.

 

_No, no, no, no, no, no._ _What the fuck is happening?_

 

Donghyuck knows his face must be of a terrified person, ready to get executed, because everyone starts to whisper as they watch him. The day the prince meets his soulmate is normally a happy one, the prince is filled with joy from finally finding the person he’s supposed to share a life together, to love forever and rule the country alongside as one. But Donghyuck seems to be anything, but Happy.

 

His eyes scan the room, desperate to find an answer to what he’s seeing, but it only makes everything worse and everyone can see that he’s as tense as ever, not moving a single muscle aside from the ones to move his head. Donghyuck’s gaze stops in Chenle, the prince of a neighbor country, and in Jaemin, the troublemaker prince no one wanted around. It all made Donghyuck dizzy and disoriented, not knowing what to do. Should he say it outloud? Or should he visit a doctor to see if everything is okay with him?

 

The first thing he does is bolt away back to inside the doors and meet Jeno in the reserve and smaller room. He closes the door with strength, leaning his body on them, trying to breathe some air, but his rib cage seems to be much more tighter than Donghyuck could remember it to be.

 

“What are you doing?” Jeno asks with huge eyes and a concerned tone. Donghyuck is not the type to cause trouble or lose control of the situation, for him to appear in front of Jeno in such stage and not naming his soulmate right away, something must have happened.

 

“I don’t know… something is wrong.” Donghyuck gets away from the door, his hands running right to his face “I think something is wrong in here.”

 

Jeno tilts his head, trying to read his brother, he is on the verge of freaking out but Jeno couldn’t understand what exactly was happening.

 

“Do you mind explaining to me why? Why do you think something is wrong?” Jeno says not sure how he should handle the situation.

 

“I-I’m seeing more than one, there’s four of them outside and I don’t know what to do.” Donghyuck starts to pace around the room, dragging Jeno along with him in the anxious mode “It creeps me out, Jeno!”

 

“More than one?” Jeno says “You mean you’re seeing the same person more than once? Like the twin princesses?”

 

“No, Jeno, I’m not that stupid.” Donghyuck stops for a moment and glares in Jeno’s direction. Of course Donghyuck could be Having a breakdown in that moment, so anything is possible, even him thinking twins are the same person “Also, they’re not even that similar.”

 

“So, enlighten me with the real problem here.”

 

“There’s more than one soulmate right behind this door.” Donghyuck tries to say it in a composed tone, but right after he speaks the words he almost screams with the thought “There’s four of them, Jeno. Four!”

 

“Four soulmates?” Jeno sounds a little confused, as everyone would be, even Donghyuck wasn’t understanding a thing of what was Happening with him “That’s impossible.”

 

“I’m telling you, the symbol appeared in the head of four of them.” Donghyuck says with a whiny voice, feeling like he’s about to lose his mind “Na Jaemin, Zhong Chenle, Lee Mark and Huang Renjun. All four of them have the crown on top of their heads.”

 

“Mark? You’ve never mentioned it before.” Jeno can’t think straight, his brain becoming a tangle of ideas.

 

“I know, I know, it’s my fault I’ve never told you he is my soulmate, but I wanted to wait until today to tell everyone. I haven’t even mentioned it to Mark.” Donghyuck starts to wander again “I had everything planned in my head. I would act surprised, of course, and Mark would too. We could get married in a few weeks, maybe some months? But nothing more than necessary, we already know each other very well - and now… I Have no idea what to do.”

 

“I’ve never heard of a four soulmates before, not even for non-royals.” Jeno follows Donghyuck in his wander through the room, they need to think fast.

 

“Maybe I could marry all of them?” Donghyuck says with the tiniest of smiles on his face because he would actually enjoy the idea, and Jeno just rolls his eyes.

 

“Stop being greedy, Donghyuck, polygamy is out of our options and you know it.” Indeed, Donghyuck knows. You have only one ally per child, as well as only one soulmate per child and you need to work with it “You need to find the best one for you. Like, you must Have The One, your _true_ soulmate, right? We just need to find him out of these four.”

 

“And how exactly should I--”

 

The door opens again, Jisung’s head popping through the gap in between the doors and Donghyuck can see the total chaos behind his brother, no one understanding what is happening there.

 

“Brother?” Jisung calls and both Jeno and Donghyuck look at him “Uh, I don’t wanna sound nosy, but like what is happening here? You know, you should say something to them and maybe announce your soulmate too? Everyone is kind of freaking out here because you disappeared out of nowhere.”

 

 _I’m freaking out too, Jisung_ , Donghyuck thinks.

 

Donghyuck looks back to Jeno, with urgent eyes “How should I choose the right soulmate in like… two minutes?”

 

“What?” Jisung glances at the room behind him, all the royals families gossiping and trying to guess what is happening there, and decides to enter the room with Jeno and Donghyuck “You don’t know who your soulmate is?” he whispers.

 

“I actually know, but… there’s four of them outhere.” Donghyuck’s shoulders seem deflate.

 

“Four?!” Jisung almost yells, which makes everything bad again, because if even Jisung is this stunned by the information, imagine everyone else who were waiting for Donghyuck’s announcement.

 

For a fraction of second Jeno stops, looks at nowhere and suddenly heads to the door, opening both of them with ease. Donghyuck tries to stop him, but he’s already in front of everyone and trying to get the guest’s attention.

 

“He has always been the unpredictable one.” Jisung whispers, watching the scene in front of them.

 

Donghyuck puts a smile on his face the moment he realizes the strangers are actually eyeing him with suspicious looks, and with the most graceful and calm of walks he stops beside Jeno. Jeno looks in Donghyuck’s direction for awhile just to see his brother mouth a _‘what the fuck are you doing?’_ before Jeno is back to the crowd and starts to speak.

 

“First of all, good afternoon to all of our guests in this lovely evening where my brother is supposed to announce his soulmate to the world.” Jeno, since young, was the one that knew how to speak in public more than anyone else. He have the charisma and always chooses the right word for the right time. When in fact, if it was Donghyuck in his place, he would stutter and laugh out of nervosity “He’s stunned to receive all of you in our home, it’s a great pleasure to have you all with us. That’s why Donghyuck decided that this announcement should wait a little longer.”

 

The whispers grow in the room, no one understanding what is happening there. Donghyuck didn’t blame them, even himself didn’t know what was happening there.

 

“Donghyuck already knows who his soulmate is, of course, but he’s a little skeptical about how this system works and his feelings. You know, this new generation, they have bigger problems than just marry a total stranger. Donghyuck wants to feel loved and love his soulmate as everyone he’s supposed to, but what if this person isn’t the other half of Donghyuck’s heart as they should be? We all know it could happen... So the prince Donghyuck decided to test his soulmate in a two weeks trial, to prove to his poor heart that this person indeed is the right one to own his heart.” Jeno says and Donghyuck can already see some of the royals melting with Jeno’s lies.

 

“We discussed it and decided you all should stay to keep it a secret who Donghyuck’s real soulmate is, because he thinks this person should love him as a person, and not just because it’s their duty! Even if turns out you’re not Donghyuck’s soulmate, at least you’ll build a sustainable and structured friendship with the heir of our kingdom. In the name of my brother, I welcome you in our home; your rooms will be resigned to each of you until the end of this day and I hope all of you have a safe stay and, the most important thing, fun during this two weeks. Of course, no one is obligated to stay, but I’m pretty sure everyone is curious to know who is the big winner to be Donghyuck’s soulmate.”

 

Everyone claps with joy, of course, who wouldn’t be happy to stay in their castle for almost two weeks? Jeno did them a favor. With all the fuss and people talking, Donghyuck doesn’t know if he should runaway our stay in the room and say hi to each person he’s supposed to get to know; He’s just a lost puppy in the middle of a mess crowd.

 

“Now you have enough time to discover who your real soulmate is.” Jeno winks at Donghyuck “But first you need to be fake with all of these suitors as if they have a chance of being your soulmate too.”

 

Donghyuck is doomed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey!! this is such a mess. first of all, i love this plot so so so much; the first time i actually wrote it was a markhyuck soulmate, normal, then i decided to adapt it to another ship and upgraded it with a bit of royal au and then decided i wanted to make this adaptation back to markhyuck so here i'm again.  
> but anyways, here's the markhyuck version of the four soulmate au plus the selection au. this is my first repost since a while, so i just hope yall like it and see you around.  
> any feedbacks, comments or critics are welcomed :)


	2. na jaemin

A few hours later Jeno announced Donghyuck’s chase to find his true soulmate, and Donghyuck already regrets it to his soul. At first, no one really understood why Donghyuck would do something like that, when in fact he is supposed to already know his soulmate. But it only takes a little gossip and Jisung’s fake excitement around the castle, telling guards and servants about how romantic the whole atmosphere will get, for it to blow up completely. Donghyuck lost count of how many reporters he spoke to and how many times he saw his face in the news that night.

 

The next day things seem to be getting worse.

 

“It’s the world’s new entertainment.” The King says, dropping a newspaper on the breakfast table, a smile so big growing on his lips that it stresses Donghyuck out “Everyone loves it!”

 

On the newspaper Donghyuck can see his name in bright red letters, followed by a photo of him and the princes and princesses from all over the world. Half of them had already left after Donghyuck’s announcement, not believing Donghyuck’s bullshit and not paying the price to know if they were the prince’s soulmate or not. It made a lot easier for Donghyuck, because he only had to deal with almost ten royal candidates, and not the full pack as he had imagined when Jeno came with the idea.

 

“You’re doing a great job here too, Donghyuck.” his mother says, with a sweet smile “You even went to every prince and princesses room last night to say good night and the press is buying the mystery behind your soulmate.”

 

Donghyuck sighs. “It was Jeno’s idea, actually.” Sometimes he doesn’t know why he acts this way, but seeing his family so hyped about the matter, and literally building a show out of the situation bothers him more than he imagined. His mother tends to keep quiet when the subject is Jeno, she prefers to ignore he exists “And he did it without giving it much thought, so right now I’m stuck with all these people and I have no idea what to do with them.”

 

“First thing, you need to prepare a schedule, because everyone must have the same amount of attention, at least in the beginning.” His father sits in his chair, beside the Queen. There’s a small tension between them. To Donghyuck,  it's reminiscent of the same heavy air Donghyuck feels when his dad needs to leave the country in order to deal with political issues, but Donghyuck focuses on the more urgent/pressing matters of the moment rather than pay much attention to his parents “Also I wanted to ask, out of curiosity and to keep up with what’s coming up with us - which of these visitors is your soulmate?”

 

After the meeting yesterday, Donghyuck thought a lot about who needed to know about his four soulmates. Jisung and Jeno already knew, and deep down Donghyuck was relieved he could rely on his brothers, but a side of him was sure there were too many people who knew about his problem. He needed to be careful with that, because no one even in their dreams could imagine that Donghyuck didn’t actually know who his real soulmate was. It would blow up as one of the biggest scandals in the royal history.

 

“Father, don’t go around abusing your royal powers.” Donghyuck says, holding back the urge to tell them exactly what is happening, but trying to sound normal, and to say something he would say if this situation wasn’t as complicated as it was. “You’ll know in time just like the rest of the world. If politics is the thing that is stressing you out right now, don’t worry about it.”

 

Donghyuck should think about it too, the politics. A royal’s soulmate bond is a much deeper involvement than just feelings, than what everyone thinks it is. It deals with your country and the other royal’s countries too. There had been soulmate matches that lead to war, or the complete doom of a small country. Soulmates aren’t always an ocean of roses, full time vacation like the outsiders think. And until that point, Donghyuck hadn’t thought about it, about the relationships between countries that will grow if Donghyuck finds out which of the four princes is his soulmate.

 

“But I’m the King and your father, I should know.” He almost sounds angry, a distant and serious tone present through his voice and actions. Everyone in the room was already so tense, that Donghyuck briefly worried if it was the fact Donghyuck had spoken to his dad in a disrespectful way, or something else. “I  _ need _ to know, for your own good.”

 

Before Donghyuck can think of any other excuse for him to not say who his soulmate is, his mother touches the King’s shoulder and looks in his direction “If Donghyuck says you shouldn’t worry about it, then you shouldn’t.” Donghyuck has noticed that she has a strange influence  over Donghyuck’s dad, like they share some kind of telepathic or weird type of connection, which results in the King always stopping and listening to what she has to say, and normally, he follows her opinion.

 

_ The soulmate bond is really that powerful, _ Donghyuck thinks, taking note of it and having in mind that he should search for this kind of proximity with his own soulmate.

 

“Also Donghyuck is right,” she continues, now looking in her son’s direction, with the corners of her lips up and always conveying the sweetness of her actions. Like how her eyes blink, or how she speaks, Donghyuck thinks she’s really gracious, but that’s probably because she’s his mother “we shouldn’t know about the final result. Because if more people know about it, there is a greater chance of the information getting into the wrong hands and ruining the expectation we’re building.”

 

In the end, it is all about the show and Donghyuck should know it. The advisories must be preparing all sort of things for it to grow into a bigger thing than the whole circumstance already is, because it will bring the castle and the royal family into the spotlight once again. Not only for one afternoon - for a couple of hours when the prince announces his soulmate. No, this is a two week opportunity of the world talking and looking only at the royalty; at Donghyuck.

 

They need to hold onto it until there’s nothing left to get out of the situation.

 

“If you know about the identity of your soulmate, you will share it with your advisors and other governments relations. Soon enough it won’t be a big secret anyway, as it should be.” Donghyuck nods at what his mother says, not because he's against turning this into a bigger show, but because he has nowhere to run.

 

The King seems to understand the arguments put onto the table, not pleased to be left out in such an important matter, but agreeing with the Queen's stance. Donghyuck feels relieved now that that's one thing he doesn’t have to worry about - sharing his problems with his parents and them not being understanding of it, even if Donghyuck is sure his father will try to get something out of him, eventually. Now he needs to be sure that Donghyuck has everything under control, which he’s almost sure he doesn’t, and make a plan for how he's going to deal with the two weeks that are ahead of him.

 

“If you two would excuse me, I said I would meet my brothers in the library before lunch.” Donghyuck says, getting up from his chair and taking a final sip from his mug before heading to the exit door.

 

Both his parents watch him leave with concerned but bright eyes that appear to follow Donghyuck, even when the door is closed. Despite everything, Donghyuck is kind of glad all this mess will at least bring something good to the country, even if the cost is Donghyuck’s sanity during the upcoming two weeks.

  
  


 

-

  
  


 

In the library, Jeno is surrounded by books, papers and pens, making his already timid presence seem smaller than normal. Jisung is there too, pretending to read one of the books Jeno is studying; Donghyuck knows he’s faking it because Jisung is a very slow reader - he  always has been since they were kids, as Donghyuck remembers Jisung staying behind for study sessions until dinner time to catch up -, but as he’s "reading" Jeno's book, he flips the pages one after the other within thirty seconds. Donghyuck giggles at his younger brother's antics, and sits on a chair on the other side of the table, waiting for Jeno to notice him.

 

It takes a while, but Jeno quickly reacts once he feels Donghyuck’s presence. As Jeno looks up at him, Donghyuck realises his eyes look a little more reddish in the corners. Donghyuck studies his brother and notes how his hair looks uncharacteristically messy, in stark contrast to when normally Jeno’s hair is all perfectly done/styled. Jeno is really giving his all for the new event and trying to find a solution to Donghyuck’s problem. He’s always been like this, trying to help the others until there’s no energy left in his own body and Donghyuck reminds himself to be thankful/ glad for a moment he has someone like Jeno by his side.

 

“Good morning, owner of hair even the gods would be jealous of.” Donghyuck tries not to laugh in his brother’s face when he’s being of so much help, but Jeno looks really funny, as if he came out of a wind whirl  and decided to stop by the library.

 

“We have a lot we need to discuss.” Jeno says with a somber voice, slowly closing his eyes as he rests the book on the table. Jisung, being the puppy he is, he takes a seat beside Jeno and stares at Donghyuck.

 

“The press is going crazy over this. They want to do interviews with each of the competitors: a whole profile so people can get to know who's involved. This morning they even had professionals debate this new program Jeno created for you, and the bets! All over the world, they're going crazy! Daehwi is winning as the prince people want to be your soulmate and Doyeon is the most popular princess.” Jisung speaks too fast with his goofy voice, almost choking on his own words “Oh, and the dates!! Everyone is so excited for you to start going on dates with the princesses and princes.”

 

“This is giving me a headache…” Donghyuck says as Jisung continues to talk about how the entire world is engaged with the mystery of his soulmate.

 

“As I said, much to talk about.” Jeno opens a book and Donghyuck can see there’s a huge list of things Jeno written earlier. “First, I’m studying this four soulmates thing because I’ve never heard of it before and there’s so many problems we need to take into account that I’ll probably go insane by the end of this, but whatever! One thing I already know for sure is that you can only have a  _ single _ true soulmate. Our family is the sole bloodline to be able to have a soulmate, and the lucky ones need to be from another royal family, and this is kind of the rule - there is a single soulmate for each prince.”

 

“So out of the four, only one is the one for Donghyuck? The others are impostors?” Jisung asks.

 

“I wouldn’t call them impostors, but Donghyuck’s situation must have become aware of more than the one match for Donghyuck, that’s why there’s four of them and we can’t tell who’s the real one.” It makes Donghyuck sigh, because nothing makes any sense anymore, not that it did before. “But I read in a book that beside the crown showing up on their heads, you can tell who your soulmate is by feeling it. It's described as something you can’t control, you need to be next to your soulmate to activate it. It’s almost magnetic, as if their presences calls yours, as unrealistic as that sounds. You feel like drowning in their existence and when you touch ar the right times, it’s like pure electricity running through your veins.”

 

“That’s daunting.” Donghyuck blinks twice, a little taken aback by the description of how soulmates feel.

 

“So mom and dad felt this all this time?” Jisung is more scared than anything, but Donghyuck doesn’t blame him. Imagine feeling electricity running in your body - for normal people actual electricity means you will probably die or get toasted. “That means we’ll feel it too? With our soulmates?”

 

“Probably…” Donghyuck says “Once mom came to sleep in my room because her and dad had an argument. It only took a few hours for him to knock on my bedroom door and ask her to come back because he couldn’t sleep without her.”

 

Jisung cringes at the thought of the scene Donghyuck just described “That’s why she gets so restless when he travels alone.”

 

Donghyuck glances in Jeno’s direction, his figure looking as tense as ever, being so quiet Donghyuck almost thought Jeno fell asleep with his eyes open “... Kind of.” Donghyuck says. “Okay, so we already know out of these four I need to find my true soulmate by the way he makes me feel? And then what?”

 

“I already made some preparations for the two weeks of this complete madness.” Jeno speaks again, and puts his glasses on, reading the list in the book he opened “First we need to decide when you’re sending people back home because we can’t keep up with almost twenty royal kids for you to take care of. You need to kind of eliminate some of them at a specific time of the week. We thought about Friday.”

 

“Friday is nice.” Donghyuck just says anything, waiting for the rest. “There will be two eliminations then?”

 

Jeno nods. “We could do five people out in each elimination. This leaves you with four finalists - your soulmates, so you’ll have enough time to get to know the candidates and also figure out who’s the real one.” Jeno continues through the list, not even looking back in Donghyuck’s direction “Then we’ll need to construct a schedule for these two weeks, because there’s a lot for you to build up in here, intimacy specially. Also, there’s no way we do things without the publicity that these activities will bring; I know this wasn’t our first plan and it never even crossed our minds that this would grow as big as it did, but we need to push through it. In the end, everything will run smoothly and end up fine. There will be organized parties and dinners for the finalists as well; after all they’ll need to get to know your family too.”

 

“What about the rebels? Are we sure they won't interfere or raise any major problems?” Donghyuck notices he just touched on a sensitive subject because Jeno stiffens again, almost unnoticeable if Donghyuck didn’t know Jeno as much as he knew his brother. “We need to think about them too…”

 

“They’ll probably try to kill all of us, as always.” Jisung shrugs, processing what he said for a few moments before realising the impact of what he said “I mean, they’ve been trying to do it for decades, right? They have an undying hate for us royals. Now we’re a putting on a show for Donghyuck’s soulmate, they’re probably unfairly pissed again with us royals.”

 

They probably are and all three of them know it. Even with the tiniest kind of different action or event the castle does, the rebels target the royal family without mercy. Donghyuck has lost count of how many times he has had to sleep in the hidden rooms inside the walls of the castle so the rebels wouldn’t find him whenever they broke into the castle.

 

“We’ll be careful and the King can ask to double security during the night or when you go visit somewhere.” Jeno is simple and quick to solve the issue “Donghyuck, the thing you need to really be worried about is that this is entertainment in the citizens’ eyes. You’ll feel tired and overwhelmed sometimes, but you need to remember this only lasts two weeks and it’s for a noble cause. Jisung and I will be here with you, so you don’t need to worry.”

 

Donghyuck looks from Jeno to Jisung, and realises it’s the first time he’s seen his little brother committed to something. He’s so serious and determined Donghyuck feels glad again to have both of them with him a moment like this.

 

“And the announcement? Of my soulmate?” Donghyuck asks.

 

“It’ll be on Sunday, during a dinner party. We’ll invite everyone back to our castle and you’ll announce the soulmate probably next to midnight. It’ll probably be aired in television, so prepare yourself to say the right words.”

 

Donghyuck shakes his head slightly, already daunted simply by thinking about what he will say for such an important moment. This will probably go on to be remembered as an integral part of history and be remembered for years, maybe centuries. The moment a Lee Prince decided to change the rules of the announcement of his soulmate and caused chaos because of it. Maybe it’ll start a tradition and everyone will do the same as him, or maybe he was the only lunatic to do something so out of the blue, in the audience’s eyes.

 

When Donghyuck is ready to help Jeno with the books - because it’s not fair for Jeno to do all the work alone when Donghyuck has nothing to do; at least not now when most of the princes and princesses are still sleeping or eating their breakfast -, someone knocks on the door, opening it after Jeno allows them to enter.

 

“Your Highnesses,” the guard gives a subtle bow in their direction and continues “another prince has taken their permanent departure from/has permanently departed from the castle.”

 

It lightens up Donghyuck’s expression because it’s one down, twelve to go until he can be with his soulmate “That’s a relief, actually.”

 

“Who exactly left?” Jeno asks, turning the pages of an old and yellow book “We need to send them a letter thanking the prince for staying with us until now.”

 

The guard takes a moment and looks at a piece of paper hiding in between his fingers “Prince Huang Renjun, from the west.”

 

It takes a moment before Donghyuck says “Excuse me, Prince Hang Renjun?”

 

Donghyuck notices that the guard doesn’t know how to respond, and is considering if he should repeat what he just said. Donghyuck blinks a few times, trying not to freak out, at least not in front of the guard.

 

“Thank you for passing along the message, you can leave now.” Jeno says quickly, before Donghyuck gives away anything with his expression about his reaction to Renjun leaving the castle.

 

When the guard is long gone, the three finally react and Donghyuck is probably freaking out, or hyperventilating with the news he just got. “What if Renjun was the real soulmate? And he just left?” Jisung would find the whole situation funny if it wasn’t a complete disaster and his brother was on the road to having a panic attack in front of him. “And it would be weird if we say we need him back, right? Like, why would we need  _ only _ him out of all the others who already left before him?”

 

Before Donghyuck can say anything else to cause them to panic even more about with what is happening, Jeno stops him. “We’ll figure something out, Donghyuck.” He takes a deep breath, sounding as tired as he looks in the moment. “With luck, Renjun wasn’t your real soulmate, so there’s no reason for us to freak out yet.”

 

Jeno’s eyes are red and with small purple bags under them, but they still manage to calm Donghyuck down a bit. They are determined, but also sweet as always; Jeno is the type of person that will communicate more through his eyes than with words and Donghyuck is relieved he has Jeno’s calm eyes during such a crisis - as much as Donghyuck thinks of himself as a dramatic fool freaking out over this tiny problem.

 

“We need to go as planned, at least until we can. If you feel like neither Jaemin, Chenle nor Mark is your soulmate, then we will think about something to bring Renjun back.” Jeno says, patting Donghyuck’s shoulder.

 

“I should think about my agenda right now.” Donghyuck says and both his brothers assent at his thought “Who should be the first I invite for a date?”

 

“Probably someone people will get excited about… Maybe Doyeon?” Jisung says, but something different crosses his mind.

 

“I think I have someone better in mind.” Donghyuck says.

 

“Then go…?” Jeno glance at Donghyuck through his glasses.

 

Donghyuck takes that as his permission to leave and makes his way to the door, but turns back to kiss Jeno on his cheeks and whisper a sincere  _ “thank you” _ to his older brother.

 

And he leaves the room, excitement bubbles inside of him.

  
  


 

-

  
  


 

“Me?” Jaemin says when Donghyuck shows up in front of his room’s door, with a big smile and an invitation to go on a date with him in the city “Are you sure?”

 

“Yes, you.” Donghyuck tries to hold back the thrilling feeling he’s still getting inside of him. Jaemin was the perfect choice and Donghyuck keeps reminding himself that he’s a genius for coming up with the idea. It’s a competition, but Donghyuck still has to find his soulmate out of the four - now three - princes, and who else would he invite but the royal troublemaker? The one everyone will talk about if Donghyuck picks him as his first date. “And yes, I’m sure.”

 

“It’s just that I wasn’t expecting to be the first… so I need to get ready.” Donghyuck notices that Jaemin indeed needs to get ready because his hair - can it even be  _ considered _ that anymore - looks like a bird’s nest and he’s wearing only a loose blouse with trousers, no shoes nor any type of jewelry.

 

Jaemin still looks as attractive as ever; actually a little more than normal because Donghyuck liked this _ ‘i don’t care about anything’  _ look Jaemin is brandishing.

 

“It’s okay, I’ll wait for you downstairs.” Jaemin doesn’t wait Donghyuck to say anything else and closes the door in his face.

 

Donghyuck doesn’t mind it too much, which is odd because in other circumstances he would be pissed with Jaemin’s behavior, because you know, Donghyuck is the prince of princes, but Jaemin seems to be an exception.

 

At least Donghyuck will get some fun during this nightmare and looks like Jaemin will be a big part of it.

 

After waiting a whole thirty minutes, Jaemin shows up fresh and a new with perfectly styled hair and clothes, so handsome and polished Donghyuck almost lets his jaw fall because of the view. Now Jaemin looks like the perfect prince everyone expects him to be, but still with a frown on his eyebrows and a subtle grimace Donghyuck thinks Jaemin was already born with.

 

“Shall we go?” Jaemin asks, looking and sounding as toneless as ever. “I’m hungry.”

 

It’s close to lunch time and Donghyuck had thought of the perfect restaurant they could go to and eat, one he’s sure Jaemin will like, even if he doesn’t express it.

  
  


 

-

  
  


 

As imagined, two princes wandering around the city causes a big fuss wherever they stop and Donghyuck isn’t surprised about it. He’s used to the pictures and to people screaming his name, even bowing their heads as he passes by the citizens. What he didn’t expect is Jaemin to look as bright as he looks in this moment, smiling gracefully to the cameras and waving at everyone. He definitely looks like someone who knows how to deal with public on a large scale, and knows how to please them too because the girls on the streets are shouting his name with all the power their lungs have.

 

They stop to eat italian food and Jaemin indeed loves it, as Donghyuck expected. There’s not much conversation in between them, just small talk here and there when either of them thinks it’s suitable to say something like  _ ‘have you seen the news? everyone is obsessed with us’ _ . And they sure are, it’s almost tangible the way people are reacting to Donghyuck’s mysterious soulmate.

 

When they’re finished with all the pasta, bread and meat, Jaemin looks at Donghyuck with a smirk dancing around his lips and glancing into the guards for the slightest fraction of time.

 

“Are we going back to the castle?” He asks, a mischevious tone showing through his voice.

 

“If we’re finish here, then yes.” Donghyuck shrugs “Do you want to visit somewhere in the city?”

 

“I actually want to,” Jaemin starts, watching the guards from the corner of his eyes “but I don’t think their company will be that  _ enjoyable. _ ”

 

Donghyuck tilts his head because he has no idea what Jaemin means by that; with Jaemin’s sublime words, there’s like a trillion places he could think of, some of them even making Donghyuck blush a bit “What do you mean by that?”

 

Jaemin stops for a minute and starts thinking of something, he touches his chin and then looks back into Donghyuck.

 

“Tell them you’re going to show me where the bathroom is.” He says, taking the napkin from his lap and placing it on the table.

 

“Tell them what?” Donghyuck repeats.

 

“The bathroom, Donghyuck.” Jaemin gets up and Donghyuck is still kind of confused as he rises from his seat “Just tell them.”

 

Jaemin rolls his eyes and waits for Donghyuck to follow along with what he said, which he does and the guards nod, following both of them from a fair distance. Donghyuck looks at them discreetly over his shoulders and begins to get a little nervous about what Jaemin has in mind, or what it will look like. The two of them in the bathroom, alone, doesn’t sound good for any of them.

 

“What do you have in mind?” Donghyuck murmurs next to Jaemin and the latter just smiles at the prince.

 

“You’ll see.”

 

Donghyuck opens the door of the bathroom, getting in it with Jaemin and the guards wait for them outside, as expected of them. As soon as they’re alone inside the bathroom, Jaemin starts to walk around the room, reaching for the window in the back wall.

 

“Don’t tell me you’re thinking about…” Donghyuck starts to speak but Jaemin is already trying to jump through the window “Really, Jaemin?”

 

Jaemin is sitting on the window, one leg in each side of the wall and he looks at Donghyuck’s figure, the pregnant feeling of a lecture coming from Donghyuck already growing in Jaemin, but he doesn’t look like he really cares about it.

 

“It’s not  _ that _ high, Donghyuck.” Jaemin says, his amused smirk dancing across his features.

 

“It’s not about the height of it, but are you really planning on running away through a window only to do what? Be caught on the next corner?” Donghyuck rolls his eyes.

 

“What’s the fun about coming into the city if we can’t act like a normal person, without the guards and fake smiles?”

 

For a small span of time Jaemin convinces Donghyuck, and that’s what makes both of them jump out of the window. Donghyuck’s landing isn’t as smooth as Jaemin’s, his knees getting hurt in the process, probably because Jaemin is more used to jumping out of windows when trying to escape something.

 

“We shouldn’t walk through the busy streets or else too many people will see us.” Jaemin says and Donghyuck obviously nods.

 

They go around small stores, the ones they can go around looking for souvenirs but end up not buying anything in the end. People recognize Donghyuck, but aren’t as possessive as when they’re together in a crowd, they're merely honored that the crown prince is visiting their stores with a foreign, and insanely handsome prince during a date.

 

Jaemin buys ice cream for both of them, because if Donghyuck went inside the shop everyone would freak out, so he waited on a bench a little far from everyone.

 

“It disgusts me that you actually enjoy mango ice cream when pistachios exist.” Jaemin says, taking a lick from his pale green ball of ice cream “I mean, who in the world likes mango ice cream? Even watermelon is better than that.”

 

“I like it, it’s dense and smooth at the same time, also it’s fresh and sweet in the right amount.” Donghyuck shrugs, eating his ice cream quietly.

 

“Look, it even makes me shiver.” Jaemin shows his arm, that isn’t shivering at all, and Donghyuck chuckles at it. “You have a weird taste for things.”

 

“You’ve only known me for what? A couple of hours? And you’re already judging me?” Donghyuck tries to sound offended, but he lets a laugh escape his lips.

 

“I recognize a weirdo when I see one and I guarantee you, you’re one yourself, Donghyuck.”

 

They continue to bicker, and Donghyuck finds it funny because everything seems to flow easier now that they’re without the ever present eyes on them. Jaemin is showing his true self, with all the teasing and jokes Donghyuck kind of digs them, even if they’re quite peculiar for Donghyuck’s taste.

 

“Okay, there’s one last place I want to visit before going back to the castle.” Jaemin says, getting up from the bench they’re sitting. They decided to not spend much time in a single place, because it would be easier for the guards to find them if they stayed at only one place.

 

“And where is it?” Donghyuck asks.

 

“You’ll see.” Jaemin only smirks in Donghyuck’s direction.

 

And Donghyuck is actually not surprised to find himself in a pub surrounded by drunk men and beer mugs, watching Jaemin singing some popular song on top of the balcony with a bunch of strangers. What surprises him the most though, is that a few moments later, he’s up the balcony singing along with Jaemin and the strangers.

  
  


 

-

 

 

Donghyuck is a lightweight, so when he’s already on his third mug of beer it feels like the world is swirling around him and Jaemin is there to laugh at his already drunk face. It turns out to be amusing how much Jaemin can drink and how fast Donghyuck gets drunk, but both of them are having fun regardless. The kind of fun Donghyuck has rarely had until now - the genuine feeling of being free and doing whatever he wants to do. Perhaps Jaemin had unknowingly helped Donghyuck during their escapade.

 

The only people that recognized Donghyuck in the pub didn’t give much thought to their crown prince being there and drinking with the rest of the mundane and normal people, and part of Donghyuck was glad nothing happened, that no people flocked to him and disrupted his moment of bliss just to see him.

 

“Okay, now let’s talk about real business.” Jaemin sits on the chair in the other side of the table, staring at Donghyuck, who’s already too wasted to get up from his chair again. Being drunk in the middle of the day, was really not what Donghyuck expected for today.

 

“What kind of business?” Donghyuck hiccups after asking. He tries to drink from his mug again, but Jaemin pushes the mug out of Donghyuck’s reach, probably because Donghyuck is getting way too drunk and they still have to make their way back to the castle.

 

“The soulmate one.” He gets straight to the point and Donghyuck realises he’s been trying to talk about it since the beginning of their date “I’m just as curious as everyone else.”

 

“And you’ll have to wait just like everyone else, too.” Jaemin does something with his face, something similar to a pout that Donghyuck finds extremely cute.

 

“But I’m a prince, I have special rights!”

 

“Maybe the right to keep quiet?” Donghyuck says, the only one to laugh at his own joke.

 

Jaemin is persistent and tries to get through to Donghyuck while he’s this vulnerable “I’m assuming I’m not your soulmate then.”

 

“And why do you think that?” Donghyuck frowns, trying to follow Jaemin’s line of thinking.

 

“I’m your first date. Out of thirteen people, I was the first, which means you’ll probably forget about me by the end of the two weeks and pretend this one single date was enough because you already know I won’t be your final choice.” Jaemin sounds really smart, even though what he is saying is complete rubbish. Even if Donghyuck knew Jaemin was wrong about the motive behind his decision to choose Jaemin, he could convince anyone with the way he had said it. “And you didn’t even try anything on me, not a single pick up line or any other kind of flirting.”

 

It’s not one, but Donghyuck takes it as challenge. “Let’s kiss then.”

 

For the first time since Donghyuck has gotten to know Jaemin, this is the first time he looks surprised, his eyes slowly widening as he realises Donghyuck’s seriousness. And Donghyuck is being dead serious about daring Jaemin to kiss him, as that would help Donghyuck prove if Jaemin was really his soulmate or not, plus it would make Jaemin shut up about it.

 

“Sure.” Jaemin says, leaning over the table, almost too ready to kiss Donghyuck out of nowhere.

 

That’s so Jaemin, jump into something suddenly, not thinking twice about the consequences or the aftermath. Donghyuck’s drunk mind is still too slow for Jaemin’s fast movement, so it takes a few moments for Donghyuck to lean over too, almost laying on the table they’re sitting at. Jaemin closes the distance between them quickly, touching Donghyuck’s lips with his own.

 

It’s fast and Donghyuck is sure he didn’t feel anything, which messes with his head because he should at least feel  _ something _ when their lips touched, or at least according to the soulmate thing his brothers mentioned before. But there’s none of that when Jaemin kisses him. Maybe the kiss was too short or they did it in a wrong way; maybe they needed to share a french kiss to know, but Donghyuck was sure it was too soon for anything more than a simple lip touch.

 

“That felt like kissing my brother,” Jaemin says with a grimace “and I don’t even have a brother.”

 

“I have absolutely no comments about that because I actually have brothers.” It’s all that Donghyuck says and Jaemin gives a small shrug in response.

 

Jaemin drinks a few more mugs of beer before they notice it’s almost sunset, which is bad because Donghyuck wasted a whole day with only Jaemin when in fact he needed to meet the other princesses and princes too. But now he feels so tired because of everything they did during day and his mind is too foggy to pay much thought in anything in the moment.

 

They leave the pub, saying their goodbyes to the nice people in it, and eventually the guards find them. All of them have this desperate look on their face, which Donghyuck totally understands because they lost the two princes from under their noses and both of them disappeared for a whole evening. If they had handcuffs or anything of the sort, they could use them to lock Donghyuck and Jaemin up, and Donghyuck is sure they would do it because they were about to lose it.

 

Back at the castle Donghyuck, is welcomed by a pissed Jeno, scolding him for everything and especially for getting drunk. Donghyuck messed everything up on so many levels, he couldn’t put it in words. Jeno was the only one that really was harsh about Donghyuck’s runaway with Jaemin, because for his parents and the rest it was publicity. The two princes escaping to spend the evening together and drinking, was a nice first day for Donghyuck and his possible soulmate, and everyone was going nuts with Donghyuck’s not intended fanservice.

 

“Above everything, you scared me, you’re not the type to do this kind of things.” Jeno says and Donghyuck nods knowing he’s at fault in this issue “Now, please, go take a shower and I’ll send something for you to sober up so you can attend dinner in a more normal state.”

 

Donghyuck does as Jeno says and goes directly to his room, taking his shoes off during the path. He can feel his backs sore and his head is aching a little, as expected from when you get drunk, especially with beer. Donghyuck tries to think about what had happened, the sudden and quick kiss and the whole evening with Jaemin, but his mind can’t focus on getting a conclusion out of it. All he knows is that he didn’t feel anything telltale with Jaemin, and that’s for certain.

 

“Oh, you’re back from your date.” Donghyuck looks up to the voice addressing him to see Mark. He stops next to Donghyuck in the hallway and checks him out from his head to his toes “It seems like it was a good date because you look… messy.”

 

Mark grins, leaning over the wall behind him and continuing to watch Donghyuck in front of him. Donghyuck’s reaction is slow, more than it normally is and Mark appears to be having fun with it. He knows Donghyuck, not to his core, but more so than any of the other royal kids in the competition and he knows Donghyuck isn’t the type to show up looking like he rolled in dust for an entire hour.

 

“So it was Jaemin afterall?” Mark says after Donghyuck keeps quiet, who just glances in his direction “And here I was thinking I had a chance.”

 

Mark almost pouts, but his smile is still on his lips and Donghyuck bites his tongue before he can say anything and give away everything just because of the few drinks Donghyuck had consumed earlier. Mark tsks, walking towards Donghyuck after the latter gave him no response.  “See you at dinner, Donghyuck.”

 

Mark touches his shoulder, giving it a slight farewell touch, and that’s when Donghyuck feels it. The electricity flowing in his body from his shoulder to the tip of his fingers. It’s everywhere, consuming Donghyuck’s build with something Donghyuck is sure it’s pretty similar to morphine. But there’s pleasure and joy mixed in it too. It’s different, intense and magnetizing. Mark is exactly the same as he was before, and not like Donghyuck, who was almost melting in the middle of the hallway. It leaves Donghyuck hanging with the thought that only he felt it and Mark didn’t. Donghyuck couldn’t be sure though, because he had no idea how soulmates worked, as his father had never spoken about it with him and now Donghyuck is just confused.

 

He wants Mark to touch him again, but he’s already gone in the hallway. He wants to feel that spark again, but he can’t just call Mark and say  _ ‘Hey, can you touch any part of my body again? As friends would, of course’.  _ So he goes back to his room, as he first planned to, and completely blacks out until dinner time. Mark’s touch made Donghyuck sleep like a baby despite the fact he had a billion things running through his mind.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyyyy  
> new chap here and i hope everyone likes it because i particually really like it!! heh   
> a big thank you to my beta @Leopardfrost that did an amazing!!!! job here  
> see you next time!! :)


	3. zhong chenle

During dinner, Donghyuck seizes any opportunity to subtly touch Mark, to confirm the jolt of electricity once again. He even asks for Mark to sit beside him when the prince was supposed to be seated next to Jisung. But even if their fingertips brush slightly when Mark hands something to Donghyuck, he can’t feel a shred of the reaction Donghyuck felt in the hallway earlier this day. He could still feel something coming from Mark, but it was the same weak spark he felt with Jaemin. It leaves him wondering if he truly has the one for him, or if all four of the princes will turn out to be Donghyuck’s true soulmate. Donghyuck is so preoccupied thinking about how that would be troublesome in so many ways, that Donghyuck almost forgets he has another eleven competitors to meet and pretend that they actually have a chance.

 

“Nice move.” Jisung says, reading the papers while Jeno just glares in Donghyuck’s direction. They’re having a meeting first thing in the morning before Donghyuck goes out for his first date of the day. “Now everyone believes Jaemin is your soulmate and it’s only day two.”

 

Donghyuck rolls his eyes, putting his pins to his suit, one by one. The country’s journal has a huge photo of Donghyuck and Jaemin secretly eating ice cream, and a smaller one in the corner of them running through the streets. The headlines say  _ ‘The escape of the soulmates’ _ , with enormous, attention-grabbing letters. Spread throughout  the article there are a bunch of other pictures of Donghyuck with Jaemin during their date in the city, especially one of them hugging when Jaemin tried to help a drunk Donghyuck walk.

 

It was naive of him to expect that no one would recognize them in the streets, or that journalists hadn’t been following them around since the beginning. Donghyuck is the crown prince and the competition is broadcasted worldwide, there’s not a single person who isn’t  following each of Donghyuck’s steps during these two weeks. Running away with Jaemin was reckless, but he only sees it now, when Jaemin’s and his faces are everywhere. Donghyuck just hoped he hasn’t messed up the whole thing before it had even started.

 

“I’m glad no one inside the pub took photos.” Donghyuck kind of sighs, sitting on his bed and waiting for Jeno to say something, maybe scold him (more than he already had the night before) or react in any way at all, but Donghyuck hasn’t said the worst part of it all yet; so he closes his eyes and continues. “We kissed in the pub.”

 

Jeno is stunned; his jaw slightly drops and his eyes widen dramatically. Jisung lets out a giggle, amused by how much Donghyuck has fucked up everything. They’re ready, completely ready, for Jeno to blow up because of the information, but Jeno just snorts, running a hand over his face.

 

“What is done is done.” He says, rubbing his eyes and then looking directly at Donghyuck. “Donghyuck, I think I’ve aged fifty years since this thing started, so please be careful from now on.”

 

Donghyuck enthusiastically nods, not wanting Jeno to become any more worried about his situation, when is Donghyuck the one messing everything up in the end. “I think I got carried away with Jaemin because he’s one of my soulmates and I wanted to experience it to the fullest amount I could, but now I know I will need to wait a little longer to be more intimate with the competitors. At least until Friday, when I send the first ones home.”

 

“Focus on each step of the process, we still have thirteen days to go.” Jeno says, lightening up the mood a little. Jeno doesn’t look as mad as before and Donghyuck can breathe properly knowing his older brother isn’t freaking out over his circumstance. “I’m still doing some research over your four soulmate case, but as I said, there’s nothing substantial to  base anything on.”

 

“Thank you, Jeno.” Donghyuck says wholeheartedly. Even with actions he’s taken already, he feels like he can’t show the amount of gratitude that he feels towards Jeno for helping him. Thanking him was the least he could do.

 

“You don’t have to thank me, you’re my brother.” Jeno gives him a smile, not a real smile as Donghyuck’s accustomed to, but enough for Donghyuck to feel better for the position he’s putting Jeno in.

 

Donghyuck notices that Jisung had grown silent beside Jeno. “What’s wrong, Jisung?”

 

“You said you kissed Jaemin,” Jisung leans closer to Donghyuck and starts to whisper “but did you feel anything? You should have if he’s your soulmate.”

 

Donghyuck sighs. “I’m afraid I didn’t feel anything, but again we still don’t know how this works.”  He decides to not tell them about what happened with Mark last night, at least not until he discovers what he truly feels towards the prince. There’s still time and he can’t jump to conclusions in this situation. “And the kiss wasn’t like a real kiss - it was more like a peck on the lips.”

 

“Don’t tell me you’ll have to kiss all four of them to make sure…” Jeno rubs his hand against his temples, stressing over everything once again.

 

“All three of them, you mean… Renjun isn’t here anymore.” Jisung remembers and anxiety seems to surround Donghyuck, because he still has to deal with a lost soulmate and can only hope Renjun’s not the one.

 

“Let’s just forget about him.” Jeno says “If Renjun left, that means he’s not worthy of being the real soulmate.”

 

It echoes Donghyuck’s mind, because it might be true. Soulmates work both ways, it isn’t only one-sided for the Lee dynasty, it affects the soulmate too. Even if they don’t feel something as strong as the heirs of the Lee throne, they will still kind of feel something strong, deep within them, or at least that’s what their mother always told them.

 

“Without Renjun, we can focus on the other three, so that’s a win.” Donghyuck consoles, more to himself than anyone else. There’s something about ignoring Renjun’s existence that makes him feel something weird in his stomach. “And I should probably leave for my first date today.”

 

He flashes a beaming smile at his brothers, and exits the chamber. He is restless about the new date with the most famous, and prettiest in Donghyuck’s opinion, princess out there. Doyeon’s profile says she likes nature, so Donghyuck decided to take her to horse riding. The morning is the best time for it, as there’s a light breeze brushing against their skins and it’s not extremely hot, though the sun will warm them with enough heat to compensate. Donghyuck likes the idea of sharing a calm and charming date with Doyeon, entailing a ride in the morning. She doesn’t have any chance of being Donghyuck’s soulmate, because he obviously already has his four candidates and that’s enough, he thinks; but she could be a real ally to their country in the future.

 

The date goes smooth as Donghyuck imagined; the date wasn’t filled with dull and long conversation and they got to know each other quite well. Doyeon is second in line to the throne in her country, and she flatters everyone with her graciousness, especially with her unique figure and beautiful smile. She’s funny too, and that’s something Donghyuck likes a lot, people that makes him smile even in moments that he thinks he can’t smile at all.

 

Donghyuck can tell the difference between her and Jaemin already. He hadn’t noticed it before because he has only interacted with the same people he has been interacting with his whole life. But now, with a stranger like Doyeon, he can feel that Jaemin’s energy drains  his energy a bit. Not as much as Donghyuck had expected from a soulmate - from what he had heard things are pretty  _ intense _ between soulmates. With Doyeon he felt nothing more than calmness and joy from spending some time with her. No supernatural magnetism or any kind of attraction towards her.

 

So his soulmate connections are really working after all. Jaemin still had some kind of power over him, even if when they kissed he hadn’t felt anything. Donghyuck remembers that Jeno said soulmates works with the right timing. You won’t always feel like you’re willing to be on your knees for your soulmate, there are special moments. Like Donghyuck’s moment with Mark last night.

 

And Donghyuck goes back to square one, because now he’s not sure if what he felt with Mark last night was really that special compared with the rest.

 

When they return to the castle, Donghyuck’s second date is already waiting, so that they could have lunch together. Donghyuck keeps reminding himself internally that he can’t fool around this time. And so, he times every date, with a maximum of three hours each. The next one is Yoojung, Daehwi’s twin sister. She’s cheerful, funny and bit too loud but Donghyuck likes her anyways.

 

It’s difficult for Donghyuck to not like someone, however.

 

They have lunch together in the castle’s Great Hall and Yoojung ends up being the one to always start the conversation.

 

“Ah… It’s so tiring being Daehwi’s twin in a competition like this.” she sighs, closing her eyes dramatically. “Everything is about him, but yet everyone still wants me to be the one because you know… I’m a girl and people’s minds are messed up like that. But he’s the perfect and beautiful prince with all these enviable skills and talents while I just… play the piano? And I’m a princess, I should be more capable to do more than just that.”

 

“If it reassures you at all, Jisung feels the same way.” Donghyuck takes a sip from his glass, gazing at the girl before him. “He’s only the second prince. Everyone gives me immense credit for the things I do while Jisung is normally just seen as an ordinary prince.”

 

She wrinkles her nose. “It must be even worse for him. You two are from a dynasty that almost rules the world, everyone has their eyes on you.”

 

Donghyuck agrees, because that is indeed true and everyone in the world would agree. “But you know, Jisung is really good at hunting - he could win awards and competitions if he could do that for a living. His eyes are so sharp I that even I can’t compete with him, because his aim is always impeccably on target and I guess I get too distracted to do that. Deep down, Jisung knows that I may have a lot on my hands, that I do this and that, but he has this one talent he’s the best at so it balances out.”

 

Yoojung seems to get what Donghyuck means and smiles. “Daehwi still plays the piano better than I do.”

 

Donghyuck rolls his eyes at her, letting out a giggle while he does it. Yoojung’s company is fresh and new, and Donghyuck hopes he can still keep contact with her after he announces his soulmate for real - he would like to have an ally like her in the future and if he wins over Yoojung, he probably get Daehwi too.

 

In the afternoon, Donghyuck decides to go on a date with the prince Chenle - _ finally _ one of his soulmates. Donghyuck decides to leave Mark for last because he needs to make sure he doesn’t feel the same thing he did with Mark with the others as well, and so the last one he needs to test is Chenle.

 

And he regrets it dearly.

 

Chenle is whiny and even if Donghyuck had put as much thought in the date as he could, Chenle would somehow still manage to find flaw. They’re having a picnic in the flower garden, behind the castle. It’s a pretty day and Donghyuck thought it would be kind of romantic. It might even trigger something inside of them and he could have more to work with to identify if Chenle is really his soulmate.

 

“It’s too sunny and hot today.” Chenle says, trying to block the sun from reaching his eyes. “I actually have really sensitive skin.”

 

“We could go under the trees if it’s any better…” Donghyuck proposes after the hundredth time Chenle opens his mouth to speak ill about Donghyuck’s idea for the date.

 

He had already complained about how his diet is strict, so he can’t eat most of the things Donghyuck brought for the date - the biggest part being sweets and pastries. Chenle also couldn’t drink orange juice because it was too acidic for him, but Donghyuck couldn’t think of many other options of juice he could drink other than acidic ones. Chenle liked berries better than grapes and abominated watermelons.

 

Donghyuck notes it’s difficult to please Chenle when he’s so strict about everything, it’s like he keeps putting up barriers when such things aren’t necessary. Donghyuck stops to think. If Chenle is really the one, what should he do? Accept his destiny and grow to like his significant other? Even when he thought about different options for solutions on the matter, Donghyuck knew it wasn’t going to be easy having someone like Chenle by his side.

 

Chenle has this annoying vibe, ready to attack Donghyuck at every chance he has. If Donghyuck paid more attention to his little glances, he would notice the way Chenle looks at him, with an irked expression. Very subtle, but still there.

 

“You could’ve thought of doing something inside the castle, actually.” Chenle says, eating a strawberry, not showing any kind of interest or enthusiasm being with Donghyuck on their particular date. It was different from Jaemin who even if he didn’t enjoy the place Donghyuck decided to have their first date he acted normal and polite about it. Chenle didn’t even try to impress Donghyuck or show that he was enjoying it in any kind of the way.

 

“I’ll note it for our next meeting.” Donghyuck smiles without showing his teeth, trying to eat his frustrations away. If Chenle doesn’t like croissants, Donghyuck will just eat them alone without complaint. “Of course, if you’re willing to have a next date.”

 

Chenle squints in Donghyuck’s direction for a moment and then changes his position to a more relaxed one. “Why wouldn’t I want to go on another date?”

 

“I don’t think you’re enjoying this one, and I’m not forcing anyone to go on dates with me if they don’t want to. The competitors are here to see if they’re my soulmate, and throughout that you aren’t obligated to do anything you aren’t interested in.” Donghyuck says a bit too fast, worried about Chenle’s reaction to his blabbering.

 

“Of course we’re not obligated to anything.” Chenle’s tone is almost offended, but trying not to show it too much. “Look, if you’re implying I don’t want to be here… I know I complain a lot but there’s things you should have thought about beforehand.”

 

“Like what?” Now Donghyuck is the one sounding offended because he’s trying his best while Chenle just likes to whine about everything.

 

“I live in a southern country, in a land where two thirds of the year is winter. My skin barely sees the sunlight, my eyes are not as comfortable being exposed to bright light for too long as yours. Also we don’t eat certain things because it doesn’t grow in the cold… so I’m simply not used to them.”

 

Donghyuck blinks twice because Chenle has been noticing these things too? “I thought you would like the sun.”

 

“Really?” Chenle has this funny look on his face, some kind of sarcastic expression “My skin is burning and I feel so hot that I would rather bath in an ice cold river than to stay in the sun for any longer.”

 

Chenle indeed looks uncomfortable in his dark and heavy clothes under the sun. It hits Donghyuck that maybe he could’ve thought of something better for them. If Chenle doesn’t have too much sun in his country, it doesn’t mean he wants to spend the whole evening burning under the sunlight. If Donghyuck took everything Chenle said into account, in the end, it made sense why this date was a little off since the beginning and Donghyuck didn’t know why. Now he knows.

 

“We could eat fondue next time then…” It’s the only thing that Donghyuck can come up with to say.

 

“With wine.” Chenle still has that annoying tone in voice. Donghyuck doesn’t feel like Chenle is even trying to be nice to Donghyuck even when explaining his reasons for being so bothered in their time together.

 

“I thought you didn’t like acidic things.” Donghyuck is confused and certain Chenle is just messing with him.

 

“I don’t like acidic drinks for kids.” He says with his chin up “Not adult drinks.”

 

Donghyuck has to hold back the urge to roll his eyes, or else it would turn into Chenle lecturing him about how Donghyuck doesn’t understand, or doesn’t try to understand, others’ needs. Donghyuck is in fact being as thoughtful as he can, trying to make all the royal kids happy at once. He has been reminding himself that not everyone, especially out of his four soulmates, would be as easy going as Jaemin, but Chenle being like this scares him the most. Right now he just hopes Chenle isn’t the real soulmate, or he’ll have to consider the thought of not having a soulmate at all, or ignore that Chenle exists and hold on to Jaemin or Mark until the end of the two weeks.

 

At the end of the date Donghyuck feels drained, as if all of his energy has been sucked by Chenle, persistent, whiny, annoying, sassy and impolite ass. Donghyuck can feel his body is sore. All of his joints feel like a thousand years old joint’s in a twenty-four years old prince. His face must look funny too, because all the guards were staring at him the way they do when he pulls an all nighter during particularly rough times.

 

Chenle had piped out all of Donghyuck’s energy in just a few hours; Donghyuck couldn’t even think what he would do if they spent the rest of their lives together. The image he has in his mind is not pleasant.

 

When Donghyuck is finally in his room again, with the sun already setting in the background, he asks for his brothers to come to his chambers. He needs to tell that Chenle is out of question, and that even if he’s the one, there’s no way Donghyuck would survive living like this everyday. He doesn’t even understand how Chenle is one of his soulmates, how the fate and universe decided Chenle would be the perfect match for Donghyuck, the one he’ll love and cherish with his whole heart. It almost sounds like a joke.

 

Donghyuck doesn’t see if his brothers come in because he falls right asleep the moment he steps inside his room and lays on his bed. He sleeps through the whole night, without waking up or having any nightmares. It’s the best sleep he’s had in a while. Last night, when he came back from the date with Jaemin, he slept for a few hours and woke up to have dinner with the princesses and princes, but this tonight he doesn’t remember people trying to wake him up to go have dinner.

 

All he remembers is waking up the next morning, with voices reaching his ear, loud voices. And as he starts to open his eyes he closes them immediately when he sees that Jeno is again, for the nth time in three days, a pile of nerves, ready to spring onto someone. Donghyuck knows his brother well, and he knows he’s the reason behind this. Jeno turns to focus on Donghyuck the moment he opens his eyes, and can see Donghyuck closing his eyes again, pretending to be asleep.

 

“Donghyuck, I saw that. I know you’re awake.” Jeno says whilst approaching his brother “And if you aren’t, it’s already time to get up anyways.”

 

Donghyuck can sense he did something wrong, or else Jeno wouldn’t be as mad as he is. The first day it was Jaemin and their little escapade, the second one was… not getting along with Chenle? Donghyuck was careful enough to not cross any lines or not follow their plan, which was to find the real soulmate and stick with him. He didn’t insult anyone (he thinks), nor did something impulsive or that he shouldn’t have done. In fact, he didn’t even leave the castle’s land yesterday, so there’s no way he did something he wasn’t supposed to.

 

With a little whining and powerless body wobbling around the bed, Donghyuck finally sits and takes a look around his room. It must be something huge that is wrong, because the King and his advisers are there too. Donghyuck’s brain is still functioning slowly, almost not processing  what is happening. He sees a magazine in Jisung’s hand and crawls in his direction to take the magazine. There are two headlines about Donghyuck and his competition. The first one is bigger with bold writing and a photo of Renjun.

 

_ ‘Prince Huang Renjun is back in town! And he has a lot to say…’  _ There’s a small paragraph beside the headline and Donghyuck passes his eyes over it quickly, just to briefly learn what the hell is going on. Renjun… is back?

 

_ ‘After giving up the competition, Huang Renjun decides to come back and says: “This is all about marketing, Donghyuck is trying to win allies from all across the globe with this competition; soon enough he will be friends with every leader from every country in the world and no one is paying much attention to it. If he can do it, so can I. Also, it’s great free publicity”, he points out.’ _

 

Donghyuck looks at Renjun’s photo in the airport, where he’s being received by a lot of civilians and the press. He looks happy… no, that’s not the word. Renjun looks greedy, with a grin in the corners of his lips and mischief in his eyes, covering it up with an adorable eye-smile. It makes Donghyuck sick, like someone punched him on his stomach more than once. It feels like betrayal, but what bothers Donghyuck the most is that Renjun came back for politics and not just because of him - which he thought it would be enough considering they’re soulmates.

 

“Is he really back?” Donghyuck asks, looking like a lost puppy, his mouth turning up as he almost pouts. It almost hurts Donghyuck, if he had any sort of intimacy with Renjun, it would feel worse than it already does. He doesn’t know why he feels this way. It’s almost sad? Probably threatened. Renjun just confirmed he’s back for blood and to uncover whatever he thinks Donghyuck is trying to do there.

 

When all Donghyuck wants is to find the love of his life.

 

“Continue reading.” Jeno says and Donghyuck notices he’s not as mad as Donghyuck had thought. He’s stressed and being in their father’s presence accentuates everything.

 

Donghyuck continues to read the front page of the magazine. The second and only other headline, is about Chenle. It’s similar to the one that came out after his first date with Jaemin. It talks about how the prince was getting along with the troublemaker, about them running away for a whole evening and this and that. Chenle’s is slightly different, however. There’s an interview with Chenle. An interview Donghyuck had no idea took place.

 

_ ‘Crown Prince Lee Donghyuck enjoys his second day of the competition with new faces, but he seems to be attached to one specific prince.’  _ There’s a similar small paragraph like Renjun’s beside the title, where it reads _ ‘The princes went on a picnic surrounded by flowers,  and rumour has it that the Crown Prince himself was the one who organised everything or the date. How romantic! To keep everyone up to date with what’s happening in the competition, we had an exclusive interview with Prince Zhong Chenle after his first date with our Prince. “Prince Lee Donghyuck is just great, he is really thoughtful and he even mentioned that he will try to please me more in our upcoming dates,” says Prince Chenle. It’s the first time it’s mentioned second dates with the same prince or princess. Has our Crown Prince Lee Donghyuck finally connected with his soulmate? Sources from inside the castle say that the Crown Prince didn’t even show up for the dinner last night. Has he made up his mind about his soulmate and now doesn’t care about the rest of the competitors?’ _

 

Donghyuck stops reading, outraged by what he just read “Sources from inside the castle? My ass! The fucking “sources” is Chenle and I’m sure of it.” He says suddenly, catching everyone’s attention. “What?”

 

“We’re going into a crisis and  _ this _ is the only thing that stuck out to you?” The King booms, all eyes on him and Donghyuck. It’s not that Donghyuck hadn’t given much thought to the Renjun incident, but Chenle’s made his blood boil. “These two issues are important, but Huang Renjun’s is the biggest one right now.”

 

Donghyuck feels weird. His body feels weird and this whole situation feels weird. Renjun just declared a silent war between them and Chenle is trying to sabotage the whole competition by implying he’s the soulmate.

 

Well, he might be one of them, but Donghyuck didn’t say anything about it and he’s sure. Maybe he used the wrong words when speaking with Chenle,  obviously meaning that he will go with multiple dates with other princes and princesses, and that doesn’t mean Chenle is the only one, or special in any way. Actually, Donghyuck just crossed off Chenle being a  candidate - even if he’s one of his soulmates -, because he doesn’t feel the connection in any meaning of the concept of soulmates.

 

And Renjun is not a lot better than Chenle, as he played dirty with the interview and magazine. He came back from the dead and made chaos with merely his existence. Donghyuck knew he had to do something before Renjun did anything worse, and he had to clear things up with what Chenle had said to the press. He needed to fix this mess before Jeno became bald, or had a heart attack, or before his dad gets tired of all of this and declares the end of this competition and makes Donghyuck tell him who his soulmate is even though Donghyuck has no idea who is it out of the four. Everyone except Chenle, that one he is sure.

 

So he builds a plan inside his head.

 

  1. _Apologise to all the princes and princesses he was supposed to have dinner with last night, when he passed out and slept for the whole night;_
  2. _Have a nice breakfast with all of them to show that he cares for them, and that he’s not biased in any way;_
  3. _Ignore Chenle with his whole heart. If Donghyuck had even thought of having a second date, now he’s sure as hell he doesn’t want one, and Chenle doesn’t deserve it. If he wants to go home because he’s being ignored, then Donghyuck encourages his decision;_



 

And the last thing... “I’m going to a date with Renjun today. Actually, I’m going on a date with him right after breakfast.”

 

All eyes are on Donghyuck, but he’s convinced to do what he says.

 

“Shouldn’t we just ignore him until this dies down a little? The press is all over Renjun. If you have a date with him, people will know you’re feeling threatened.” Jeno argues. The advisors eye him with suspicion, as they deemed it inappropriate for him to speak right at that moment. But Donghyuck would listen to Jeno a hundred times over, before even considering any of his dad’s advisors.

 

“I need to act before he does.” Donghyuck gets up, moving to his wardrobe. “If I don’t give him enough time to make a move, no one will get a chance at all to make a move. I need to keep him busy, so people inside the competition know what they’re here for. They’re here for me, not Renjun or Chenle, or any other person, but for me. I need to remind them of that, as well as needing to remind this country about what the competition is about and who they need to listen to. The Crown Prince, Lee Donghyuck.”

It’s quiet, everyone just listening while Donghyuck hurriedly changes his clothes. Donghyuck needs to keep focus on what he’s doing, and the goal of all of this. If he bites the bait everyone is trying to pull him with it, he will lose everything and end up without an answer to his real issue of identifying his soulmate. If someone needs to demonstrate control over the matter, the person is Donghyuck and only Donghyuck. Not Jeno or his dad, or the competitors or the press.

 

It’s him, and if they want to play, Donghyuck is intending to win it.

 

“Donghyuck, deep down you’re a genius.” Jisung remarks, giving his brother a gummy smile.

 

“I know, sometimes I use the gift that’s given to me.” Donghyuck jokes and he can’t see Jeno, but he’s sure his brother is rolling his eyes. “So first thing, go to every prince and princess’ room and invite them for breakfast with the Crown Prince. Everyone needs to be there, no excuses.”

 

The guards exit, as well as the most people previously inside Donghyuck’s room. Before his father leaves, he taps Donghyuck’s shoulder and grimly mutters, only so Donghyuck can hear “I hope you’re right about this.”

 

He leaves the room behind the others, but his words stay with Donghyuck.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey again!! new chapter is here, finally   
> hope you enjoy it and the whole story too (sorry if chenle was a bit of a nouisance heh)  
> anyways as always thanks for the amazing work from my beta @Leopardfrost and thanks for reading this fanfic, it means a lot to me!!  
> see you next time <3


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